Proud Graduates, Proud Moms

May 19, 2005|By EDWARD LEBOW Daily Press

SUFFOLK — Program helps new moms in Isle of Wight and Suffolk see the benefits of getting parental help and advice.

Children wore the white caps and gowns. Their mothers, jeans and blouses. Yet the diplomas handed out at the East Suffolk Community Center on Wednesday represented something that isn't about to end -- family.

The seven graduates were the latest moms to get pats on the back -- and more than a few hugs -- for spending five years in the Suffolk and Isle of Wight Healthy Families Program, which helps first-time moms and dads get off to a good parental start.

Similar programs exist in other local cities, such as Hampton and Newport News. The one for Suffolk and Isle of Wight has helped about 200 families since it began in 1997 and runs on about $147,000 from the federal, state and local governments and from private donors.

"We're really here to help our moms get all the resources they need," said Lisa Godwin, one of the program's caseworkers. "The goal is to do what we can to make it easier for moms."

The help ranges from moral to material support, said Windsor resident Beth Garbus, who at 42, was the eldest graduate in the group.

"At times I needed help with diapers and clothes," said Garbus, who has a daughter.

Yet it's the help with all of the intangibles of raising children that Garbus and the other women seemed to value the most from the program, which is free and voluntary.

"One thing we try to do is help them track their children's development so we can get them to the age where they're ready to go to school healthy and happy," said Godwin.

Crystal Liggins' son Logan, now 5, was slow to reach a couple of his developmental milestones, said Liggins, who is 21. Cynthia Smith, her caseworker, "noticed he wasn't talking like he should have been," and he had problems with his vision, she said.

Working with Healthy Families, Liggins, who lives in Windsor, was able to get her son the extra help he needed.

The program also helps mothers set and pursue their own goals.

"We try to get the moms to set small goals, nothing so big that it would take a long time to accomplish."

"Getting my GED is something I'm working on," said Suffolk resident Tracey Jones, who is 21 and has a daughter. Yet one of her first hurdles was to learn to drive, said Godwin, who is working with the family.

"This was a young lady who was afraid of driving," said Godwin. "And I had to keep telling her 'You need to get your independence.' "

The program, which operates from the Suffolk Health Department in conjunction with Obici Hospital and local social service agencies, was set up in 1997.

New parents usually hear about it during their stays at the hospital, said Lori White, who makes the rounds of the maternity ward at Obici to spread the word.

Garbus wasn't sure the program was for her at first, she said.

"Being an older age, I thought in the beginning, what's this lady really need to come around for. I had brothers and my mother and friends. And some of my friends had two or three kids, so I thought I knew what to do. But it was always bringing me good information and help."

The program isn't meant to replace family and friends, said Joan Turner, the program director in Suffolk. It's a supplement.

"Grandma can tell you a lot of things about raising babies," said Turner, but she may not know the latest on things like whether my child is speaking when he should, or eating when he should.

That's reason enough for Garbus to see the graduation just another milestone along the way.

"I don't see this program ever really ending," she said. "I feel like I have a friend in the worker who helped me. She's become a real part of my family." *